1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the invention described herein pertain to the field of packaging. More particularly, but not by way of limitation, one or more embodiments of the invention enable items to be packaged in a plurality of compartments and coupled with another package.
2. Description of the Related Art
There is no known apparatus that enables the coupling of multiple items such as marketing materials, condiments, napkins or utensils to a package, for example a food package. For instance in situations where delivery personnel supply food items to customers, there is no easy way to attach a plurality of items intended for an end customer. For example there is no known device that allows for attaching cheese or peppers along with a promotional flyer to a pizza box. In this example, a delivery person may or may not remember to provide the customer with these items and therefore, missed marketing opportunities occur. In this scenario, customers are not provided with the items that they need to complete the act of eating the package food item.
Delivery personal that physically transport the packages are ill equipped to perform marketing for a company since many of the delivery personnel are low paid, unskilled workers. When a worker is directed to deliver a package, for example a package that contains food, the worker is generally paid for each delivery and does not have an incentive to provide materials other than the item to be delivered. The delivery of condiments (such as parmesan cheese or hot peppers for example) and napkins is inconsistent since these items are not physically coupled with the package that is being delivered. When a delivery worker is in a rush, these items may be haphazardly delivered or not delivered at all.
Coupons, prizes or promotional materials are generally not delivered with packaged items, and when these items are intended for delivery, they may also go undelivered, especially when the delivery worker is under pressure to transport a number of items in a short period of time. In addition to the problem of delivery or non-delivery of items other than the actual packaged item, delivery of multiple items simply makes each delivery harder. For example, a worker that has half of a dozen salads to deliver with napkins and salt/pepper and hand-wipes may forget many of these items since there are so many separate items to carry. These delivery problems make the end user's experience sub-optimal and causes further work for the delivery center since some customers may call in and complain. Other customers may simply not order from establishments that have good food since the end experience also depends on the items delivered along with the food.
For at least the limitations described above there is a need for a multi-compartment package attachment apparatus and method.